Heartstrings of Love
by AaronCottrell97
Summary: March has just begun on Sodor, and the engines are all beginning to think about Thomas on his adventures in China, and how he'll soon be home shortly. Thinking about Thomas causes all of the engine couples to think about each other, most of them having to cope with the distance between each other.


It was now March on Sodor on a beautiful, clear night. Winter was coming to an end, and Spring was very, very close. Almost all the snow had melted and the temperatures were getting quite warm. With such a big change, there were some across Sodor were feeling twitter-pated. But for most of the engine couples besides Emily and Thomas, who was still adventuring in China, there was a different sensation. Many of the engines were wondering about Thomas and what he might be doing or going through right now. Thinking about Thomas reminded them of their distant ways between each other and how much they missed the other.

As Percy huffed through the night with the mail, he had been thinking a lot about Thomas. Ever since he and the Steam Team bade farewell to him, he had been wondering to himself what he could be up to out there. Thomas was Percy's best friend and although he kept on with his work quite well, he missed Thomas immensely deep down. It made him remember the first time Thomas travelled the world and he spent the evening at Brendam Docks, staring out to the ocean, thinking so much about Gina. Remembering this made him suddenly think more about Gina. It had been quite a long time since she had visited last, and Percy still remembered how they made gentle love together during her last visit. As happy as he was to have motherly love from Emily, it was such a thrill for him to experience romantic love with Gina. But as he recalled how far away she was as well as Thomas, it made him even lonelier.

"Oh, my lovely Gina," he said to himself. "I hope you're feeling okay. It's not easy without Thomas or you. Please come back one day, my Queen of Shunting."

And he sighed and huffed on through the night, while other engines across the island had their own recollections of love to express…

At Vicarstown Sheds, Rosie and Henry were talking together about how they were so far away from what used to be so close to them.

"You see, Henry," said Rosie. "I absolutely love working here as the head shunter. Vicarstown is a very grand station. But even when I do take trains along the island, I don't often see Stanley. He's such a fine engine to all of us. Ever since he invited me to his shed that Christmas, I felt doubts about loving another engine after Thomas and I didn't work out. But I have Stanley to thank for helping me past that awful time…and he gave me all the love I could ever hope for. But ever since I moved here, it has made us quite separate from each other. Just to see him again would make me very happy, especially after Emily helped him give me such a happy Valentine's Day…"

"Well, I feel the same way, Rosie," said Henry. "Every now and then, I feel quite far away from what I used to do. I sometimes miss being at Tidmouth Sheds with the rest of the team. I have so many friends I could talk with in the evenings there. But as I saw how happy Edward was to be closer to his branch line at Wellsworth, I thought that I could feel the same way, being closer to my duties of taking trains to and from the Mainland. And I think it's worked for me just as well as it did for Edward. And you, Rosie. You're very fun to talk with every night. Your company is much better than none at all."

Rosie smiled. "Thank you, Henry. And I'm happy to have your company too. It's much better than being all alone. Goodnight, Henry."

"Goodnight, Rosie," Henry replied. "I'm sure Stanley will see you again quite soon."

Meanwhile, in his own shed, Stanley was reminiscing to himself about the Valentine's Day he had shared with Rosie, thanks to Emily's help. He knew all too well that Emily was feeling quite sad and lonely not to share that holiday with Thomas, but he could never thank her enough for what she did to help him and Rosie have a happy Valentine's Day together.

"That was such a lovely time," he said with a smile. "Thank you, Emily…and I love you so much, Rosie…"

At Crovan's Gate Sheds, however, Molly was feeling the blues. Ever since the previous Autumn, she had moved out of Tidmouth Sheds to make way for the new engine who came home with Thomas. Nia. As happy as Molly was to let a new engine be welcomed, she felt lonely not to be so close with James anymore. She missed sleeping beside him. She missed hearing all about his day. And she missed spending nights at Knapford Sheds with him, just like Thomas and Emily, or Percy and Emily. So far, the only time she and James got to spend time together since this change was when he got held up by track repairs at Vicarstown and he went to spend the night with her just before Rebecca had her near miss with Gordon.

"Jimmy," Molly whispered. "I wish you could be here with me…my Radiant Ruby. For just a few nights maybe. I love you so much." And she fell asleep, feeling a little sad.

At Tidmouth Sheds, James found himself thinking about Molly too. After several events with the new Steam Team, such as Rebecca's near miss with Gordon and when he worked all through the night with Thomas and Nia to deliver the Christmas parcels, he was finally thinking about his Shining Sun again. Like Molly, he too wished they could be closer together more often. He knew he wasn't a perfect engine all the time, and having Molly so close to him helped him feel like he had a purpose, and now that she had left, he sometimes found it more difficult to hold to his good will. She had given him such a light and joy he had never felt before, and he only wished to be a little closer to her.

"My Shining Sun…Molly," he whispered. "I love you so much. I'd be most happy to see you again soon." And he fell asleep, feeling a little sad too.

But of course, of all the couples on Sodor, Luke and Millie could not feel more separate, having seen each other so rarely and having such long periods of time apart in between each get-together. At the Blue Mountain Quarry, Luke was the only one awake, lost in thought about Millie once again. In the silence of the night, he was remembering everything between himself and Millie. Over the few years they had spent together in love, there were several beautiful times they had shared together. Their first date when Luke took her along the Skarloey Railway, when he gave her a late Christmas gift of love after Glynn and Stephen had their race over the hill, when she came to help him after his accident at the quarry, when Luke came to visit her after Spencer mocked his "low class," much to Millie's utmost displeasure, and when Millie came to comfort Luke after Duncan teased him over "luck of the Irish."

At last, Luke stopped his spell of thoughts. He wandered away from his shed, into the open area of the Quarry. The moon was casting a magnificent light everywhere he looked. It suddenly made him remember one other time he and Millie shared together, shortly after Thomas left for his first world adventure. The time the two little engines saw a blue moon together. To see such a thing was most likely only once in a lifetime, and when Luke and Millie saw it together, it had given them both a new strength and confidence. It told them that although their times together were far between each other, they would have countless times to see each other compared to a blue moon.

Luke looked out to the night sky again and closed his eyes. He felt his boiler bubble and his firebox burn…and through his closed eyes, he could see Millie right there in front of him, asleep in her own little shed…

At Ulfstead Castle, Millie was fast asleep. Sometime earlier, she had found herself thinking endlessly about Luke and all the times they shared together. She still remembered the story about him and Victor and how he still took personal ownership for it, although he really didn't need to. If there was one thing she was always proud of doing, it was making him feel secure and safe about how that even wasn't his fault. But even then, she wished they could see each other more often, right until she had fallen asleep that night.

But slowly and surely as she slept…she could see Luke forming through her closed eyes, as if he were right there…only she envisioned the Blue Mountain Quarry around her and the love of her life. And then, she whispered it.

"…Luke."

At the Quarry, Luke opened his eyes and whispered into the night. "…Millie."

The only couple to be so close together all the time lived at the Search and Rescue Centre. Belle and Flynn the fire engines. They were also talking a little about Thomas' adventures.

"What do you think, Flynn?" asked Belle. "Thomas really has become the first tank engine to go around the world, as did Nia when they met together. Just what will he experience in China?"

"I really don't know, Belle," said Flynn. "And I don't think we'd have much time to learn everything from him anyway. We're both so busy with our duty to keep Sodor safe in case of emergencies…and I'm very busy with my duties to you."

Belle blushed. "Why…thank you, Flynn," she said smoothly as she gave him a big kiss to thank him.

"I'm just so happy to be close to you all the time, Fiery Flynn," she beamed.

"As am I, Big Belle," Flynn replied as he kissed her in return. And so they shared a few kisses together until they fell asleep.

Back at Tidmouth Sheds, after James had fallen asleep, there was one other engine who was still awake. Rebecca was looking at the star-covered sky, thinking a little about Thomas herself. Before she came to Sodor, she was well aware of some of his adventures way back when, which gave her a great sense of joy to meet him when she came to Sodor, and from what she had come to learn about his relationship with Emily, she understood how Emily must have felt to have her cobalt star so far away in the world.

Rebecca glanced at Emily, who was sleeping peacefully in her berth, wearing a little smile of content comfort. Then Rebecca's eyes slowly turned away from Emily until they fell upon the engine right next to her. Gordon. Rebecca suddenly stopped her eyes' movement and held her gaze on the big blue engine while he slept. He seemed content and peaceful enough himself. As she looked at him, Rebecca began to remember what few interactions they had together so far. She remembered how she defended him from Flying Scotsman's brother-banter teasing and how Flying Scotsman was left at utter loss for words when Gordon followed her back to Tidmouth Sheds expressing his thanks and gratitude to her.

_"You really don't deserve that much teasing, Gordon. Even if you two are brothers,"_ Rebecca thought to herself.

Then she suddenly remembered the time she became a runaway engine, crashing through Emily's berth and almost colliding with Gordon before the trap-points saved her.

_"That was scary, Gordon,"_ she thought. _"But I'm so happy those trap-points were there for me and you."_

And of course, she remembered how she had been helping him with the express run ever since she first became part of the Steam Team. Aside from her little incident on her first day, causing confusion without delay, she had been doing a splendid job with the express, much to Gordon's surprise and appreciation.

As Rebecca pondered all these thoughts, she began to wonder that maybe there was a special friend that lingered within Gordon that had yet to show itself. She took some time to look at his big blue form. His blue wheels and steam cylinders, his silver side-rods, his dome, and his tender with the No. 4. Rebecca was looking at a big, powerful and grand steam engine. Gordon may have been overly proud and full of himself at times, but when it came to his interactions with Rebecca, he seemed to be quite chipper, agreeable and unexpectedly kind to her. This gave Rebecca a very cheerful sensation about the big blue engine beside her.

"Well," she whispered to herself. "I certainly like having a big powerful friend like you to work with. Goodnight, Gordon."

And Rebecca happily fell asleep with a smile. It was certainly a rather interesting night on Sodor. It was quite apparent that heartstrings of love were being plucked at ever-so slightly for all the engine couples across the island. And now, in just a few more days, Thomas was due to return from his adventures in China, along with a few interesting stories to share with Emily.

* * *

OK, so stories should be somewhat more frequent for the next week or so, and this one was just to give the other characters besides Emily some focus. The next story will be Thomas coming home, so look forward to hearing "Tales of China". So, leave your thoughts on this one, and we'll see you next time.


End file.
